A new recipe for climate success

Across the world, goals are being set to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigate global warming. Figuring out the best way to meet these targets involves a lot of trial and error, and no jurisdiction yet has developed a magic formula. In Canada, so far, addressing our own ambitious targets hasn’t come easily.

In 2015, the International Energy Agency was critical of Canada’s climate approaches, and a recent report offered a dire forecast. Meanwhile, a 2018 report from the independent Climate Action Tracker rates Canada’s progress as "highly insufficient." “Canada must significantly enhance both its NDC [nationally determined contribution] and its proposed level of climate action to get onto an emissions pathway compatible with the Paris Agreement,” it reads in part.

The new Alberta advantage

On the morning of December 13, 2017, news from Alberta refashioned the discussion of affordable energy in the country. From the heartland of Canadian oil and gas, the results of the province’s first renewables procurement were announced.

As the Alberta government took its first steps towards a planned 30 per cent reliance on renewable electricity by 2030, it scored an early victory: the province had received bids with the lowest energy prices in Canada. The average figure of $37 per megawatt-hour (MWh) came from four successful bids for 600 MW worth of new wind power projects. Even with an additional 200 MW over the initial 400 MW goal, the auction still came in under budget. This further burnished Alberta’s recent reputation as a climate leader in Canada under the NDP government of Premier Rachel Notley.